After a meeting of trade ministers of more than 20 WTO countries in Oslo, Norway, on Friday 21 and Saturday 22 October, WTO director general Roberto Azevêdo welcomed the participating ministers’ call to build on the momentum of the successful WTO ministerial conferences in Bali in 2013 and Nairobi in 2015 to obtain tangible results from the conference in Buenos Aires at the end of 2017.
"A continuing dialogue amongst ministers through events like this is essential, so I welcome Norway’s initiative in convening the meeting (see EUROPE 11653). Regular ministerial engagement allows for more focused discussions and will provide the necessary political direction for delegations in Geneva. I welcome the commitment of participants to maintain this support and engagement in the lead up to the 11th ministerial conference so that members can deliver concrete results" in Buenos Aires, Azevêdo stated.
"Many issues were raised in Oslo, reflecting the ongoing debate in Geneva. A number of agriculture issues were discussed, including domestic support, cotton and public stockholding. Many recalled that development should remain in the centre of WTO’s work and that LDC issues should be prioritised", he explained.
A range of other issues were also raised, including fisheries subsidies, domestic regulation in services, services facilitation, services market access, investment facilitation, non-tariff barriers, e-commerce and SMEs, Azevêdo added.
"Given the range of issues raised, representatives in Oslo stressed the importance of proponents providing the impetus behind the issues that they want to take forward", he said.
Finally, Azevêdo said that a side-meeting of those WTO members participating in the negotiations on an Environmental Goods Agreement also took place in Oslo, where participants committed to redoubling their efforts in Geneva in order to conclude the deal by the end of the year. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)